What to do when the camera locks up!
It’s the photographer’s worst nightmare. The camera locks up just before the first kiss! Does the photographer -
1 Freeze like a statue and start to sweat?
2 Reach for his other camera and keep shooting?
3 Switch off the camera, pause and then back on again?
4 Switch off the camera, take the battery out, count to five, replace it and back on again?
5 Start thinking about his blood pressure going through the roof, and panic?
The right answer is 5, then 3, then 2, and finally 1 or 5; take your pick.
Cameras are modern marvels, packed with computer electronics and slivers of optical glass in the lenses. Unfortunately, we all know about computers that freeze from time to time. It’s not a disaster if your computer freezes and requires a reboot. It can be if the wedding photographer hasn’t thought through a quick recovery process and practiced the moves.
After all, the chances are that the wedding photographer will have an equipment malfunction sometime during a wedding. It’s just he should be prepared to take remedial action… FAST.
I suggest 5 (or 3 if you only have seconds) first in case an image is being written to the card which may be the “freeze”; then removing the battery which should always clear a freeze… unless the camera has failed. In which case, 2 as good photographers will always have a second camera to hand so they can move smoothly from one to another. And its likely that the second camera will be identical to the first as the controls are the same.
The only problem is that the preferred lens for that moment will be on the camera which just froze, so some deft lens changing may be in order. Personally, I keep a third camera in the trunk just in case.
You can’t shoot a wedding twice, so getting it right the first time is critical. And having a plan, practicing it and having backup is vital.